


Here For You

by valiant_muffin



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:05:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valiant_muffin/pseuds/valiant_muffin
Summary: His smile was meant to charm, his words meant to convince her of the sincerity of his affection. Notice me! He all but screamed it out loud.Yet...She smiled back prettily and pulled back. The distance between them didn’t change.





	Here For You

“It’s rare to catch you like this.”

Albert had been sitting in Central Plaza when he spotted the Builder walking home from the Research Center. As soon as he saw her, he couldn’t stop himself from jumping to his feet to offer accompanying her the rest of the way.

Not that she needed any protection when she faced down murderous machines in hazardous ruins on a daily basis. Still, she accepted his company anyway, which made him happier than if he had been asked out by a dozen other women at once.

They walked side by side up to Peach Plaza as she sighed in response to his comment, “You mean not working? Jeez, it feels like all my free time not working on commissions is spent holed up in the Research Center helping Petra with some relic or another.” She paused to roll her shoulder before adding with a grin, “Although, to be honest, it’s been an amazing experience.” 

Past the cheerfulness, he could see the weariness in her movements, in the way she carried herself. Not completely slumped in fatigue yet, but standing less tall than usual. She was clearly burning the candle from both ends.

It left him unsettled to see her like that. He wished it was his place to help her unwind. God, he would do it in a heartbeat if she wanted it. But she never asked him, even when he offered.

“Feel free to call on me anytime you need a break. I’d be happy to accompany you anywhere.”

Albert strode a bit closer to her until their hands were just a hair’s breadth apart. The real distance between them was not something he could close physically though. 

“Really? Even just for walking home from the Research Center?”

While she was joking, he wasn’t, “Any time spent with you is worth it, my dear builder.”

His smile was meant to charm, his words meant to convince her of the sincerity of his affection.  _ Notice me! _ He all but screamed it out loud.

Yet...

She smiled back prettily and pulled back. The distance between them didn’t change.

Folding one arm over the other, closing herself off, the Builder teased him with an uneasy look on her face instead, “So that’s how you get all the girls, huh?” 

“All but the one in front of me, it seems.” His tone was kept light as he took a polite step away from her.

She turned away from him, shaking her head. “You’re impossible, Albert.”

Unable to respond to that, he remained silent. The two continued to walk without another word to each other until they reached the gate outside the Builder’s workshop where they remained, hesitating just outside the threshold. Neither of them seemed to want to break the silence, or to leave just yet.

“Thanks for walking me home,” she said finally, but winced as soon as the words left her mouth. They awkwardly filled the space between them.

Still, if she didn’t want to address it, Albert wouldn’t push her. “Thank you for letting me. Try to get at least some sleep tonight, alright?” He was going to leave it at that when she stopped him by the arm.

“Wait-- It’s not like I don’t like being with you, Albert...” The sentence was left hanging, and the flustered expression on her face led him to believe that she didn’t quite know how to finish it.

He couldn’t pull away when she looked at him like that. As if she wanted to ask something of him that he wouldn’t hesitate to give. If only she’d ask.

When she didn’t and continued to only stand there in silence, Albert took a chance. His heart could only take so much. Pride be damned.

“What can I do to get you to believe me?”

She raised an eyebrow, “Believe you?”

“That you could have me, if you wanted me.” It took a moment for his words to fully register for her.

When it did, she yanked her hand back, tucking it under her arm and closing herself off again. “How could I believe you? I bet you say that to all the girls.”

The comment stung, but he couldn’t fault her on it. He couldn’t erase his past, the past lovers, the constant searching for the  _ one _ . Not that he would even if he could have. How could he regret it when it led him to this moment?

“You’re right,” he started, barreling on despite her folding more into herself at his words. He wasn’t going to lie to her. “I’ve probably said those words hundreds of times, but I meant them every time and I don’t regret any of them.”

“The problem is wanting to keep me after.”  His nerve failed him at that moment and he suddenly found the dirt beneath his shoe utterly fascinating. It felt a bit pathetic to say it out loud.

The Builder didn’t respond immediately to that. When she continued to stay silent, Albert’s curiosity got the better than him and he chanced a glance at her face again. He was expecting pity, but…

She was looking at him,  _ really _ looking at him.

Her arms were no longer crossed. One reached hesitantly out to him, but he didn’t dare meet her the rest of the way. If she wanted this, she needed to take it herself. Just so he’d be sure she really wanted this,  _ him. _

“The other girls weren’t just flings,” her words were quiet as if she were talking to herself, “They each meant something for you, even when they left…”

Not even daring to speak, he nodded instead. Her lips pressed together thoughtfully.

A moment passed. Then another.

And then finally, she nodded once. “Okay.”

He wasn’t ready for the touch of her hand on the side of his face. The warmth of it seeped through his skin. He still couldn’t move. If he could see himself in that situation, he would have laughed. The infamous playboy kept in place with a single touch?

“Albert,” she started and he hung on the way her lips said his name, the way her eyes looked at him with such clarity. There was nowhere else he could have looked.

“...Would you stay here with me tonight?”

His hands found her waist and he found he liked the way how right it felt.

He leaned in, just inches apart. “Tonight, tomorrow, for however long you’d like, I’m here for you,” he said before closing the distance between them.

**Author's Note:**

> I had been entertaining the notion of making the ending explicit, but I ran outta steam in the end;; Maybe I'll add it in if people are interested? But regardless, thank you for reading Albert yet again fumbling for the Builder's affections lmaooo


End file.
